Improvement in brick-presses



t ATBNT Erice.

JAMES FINEGAN, OF HAVERSTRAW, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRICK-PRESSES.

To @ZZ whom it may concern..r

Be it known that I, JAMES FINEGAN, of Haverstraw, in the county ot' Rockland and State ot' New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Brick-Presses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a t'ull, clear, and exact description of the same, reti erence being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of my invention,taken in the line x, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a vertical section ofthe same, taken in the line y y, Fig. 1.

Similar letters ot' reference indicate corresponding parts in the two tigures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of brick-presses in which a reciprocating plunger is used for coinpacting the clay in the molds or 'compressing it therein.

The invention consists in forming the plunger-rod ot' two parts, connected together and arranged in such a manner that the stroke ot' the plunger may be varied at pleasure, and the pressure thereof consequently regulated as desired.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the clay-box or receptacle ot' a brick-press, and B the press-box from which the clay is forced into the molds. G is the punger, which works in the box B, and l) the plunger-rod, which is formed of two parts, u b, connected together by a pin, c, which passes tightly through the lower part ot'aan d through an oblong slot, d, in the upper part ot' b. (See Fig. 2.) The lower part ot' c is slotted longitudinally, as shown at e, to receive the upper part of b, as shown in Fig. 1, and within the slot e there is titted a slide, E, against which a pin, f, in the part a, of the rod D bears when the plunger descends. The pin j may be inserted in any one of a number ot' holes, g, in the part c of the plunger-rod. and by this means the stroke of the plunger maybe varied (increased or diminished) as desired. When the slide E is a ljusted so as to be in close contact with the upper end ot' the part b of the plunger-rod, the plunger G will have a length of stroke equal to the length ot' the crank F, which operates the plunger, but if the pin f be inserted in a more elevated hole, g, so as to admit ot' the play of the slide E between the upper end ot' the part b of the rod D and the pinf, the stroke of the rod D will be diminished in a degree corresponding to the play allowed the slide E. Hence it will be seen that the pressure ot' the plunger C on the clay may be regulated as desired by simply shifting the pin f. Thus, by this simple device, which will not add in an appreciable degree to the cost in the construction ot' the press, a very importa-nt result is attained, for the clay, in being t'orced into the molds, requires to be subjected to a greater or less pressure, according to the degree of moisture it containstechnically speaking, according to its stiffness.

Having thus described my invention, what I 

